Sober suspected of driving drunk
MIDDLESEX TWP — A suspected drunken driver was Sober. Huh?
Middlesex Township could have been excused for doing a double take upon checking the driver's license of a Westmoreland County man believed to be driving drunk.
Daniel A. Sober, 44, of Lower Burrell was allegedly nearly two-and-a-half times the state's legal limit for alcohol early Saturday morning when he was pulled over on Route 8 at Cruikshank Road in Middlesex Township.
District Judge Lewis Stoughton later arraigned Sober on charges of driving under the influence and careless driving. He was subsequently released on his own recognizance.
Police said they first spotted the defendant in a pickup truck around 2 a.m. while responding to an unrelated call on Old Route 8. According to charging documents, he was driving carelessly and “well above” the posted speed limit.
He was eventually stopped in the Holy Sepulcher Catholic School parking lot. A portable breath test device indicated he had been drinking, documents said, and he was taken to the Butler police station for a formal breath test.
Results showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.194 percent, police said. In Pennsylvania, a level of 0.08 percent is considered intoxicated.
